Fiber straightener



Dec. 28, 1954 w. s. CHANDLER FIBER STRAIGHTENER Filed 00?.. 25 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 28, 1954 w. s. CHANDLER FIBER STRAIGHTENER 2 Sheets--SheeI 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1951 United States Patent" O FIBER STRAIGHTENER William -S. Chandler, Portland, Maine Applicationy October 25, 1951, Serial No. 253,049

7 Claims. (Cl. 19"-99) 'I`hisinvention relates to, apparatus for operating on a mass of 'loose liberstoremoveforeign matter and to form the iibers into `a sliver in which the ii-bers extend approximately. in the same direction.V Whilel the apparatus `will operate on various kinds of kvegetableor animal fibers, it is hereinafter described as operating on cotton fibers. Ordinarily, the cotton fibers are cleaned and loosened into alight Yiluffy bodybyopener. machines nowV in use. Then it is processed through a picker machine which rolls it into wide laps. The laps are fed to a carding machine which delivers it in the form of a sliver. According to the present invention a mechanism is provided which eliminates the picking and carding machines by taking the opened cotton and delivering it cleaned, in sliver form, thus saving machinery, space and labor.

To this end the loose fibers are fed down between mutually adjacent surfaces of two members, which surfaces are moving in diiferent directions and are adapted to carry along with them fibers presented thereto. One of these members has a surface of revolution such as a cone or cylinder and is revolved on its axis. The other member may be an endless belt having a stretch running along near the first member and extending substantially from one end to the other thereof. Preferably a series of such belts are arranged around the iirst member in similar relation thereto. Preferably, the first member is an inverted cone. The belts are mounted on pulleys which are rotated to cause the stretches adjacent to the cone to travel downward toward the apex. The surface of each belt is covered with card clothing or the like s that the fibers which fall thereon are carried downward along the surface of the cone toward the apex. The cone surface is porous or foraminous and a suction is maintained inside so that the fibers are drawn against the surface. The cone surface may also be covered with an abrasive or with a porous card clothing. The cone is revolved so that the fibers tend to be carried horizontally thereby but are also dragged downward when they encounter each belt. The linear speed of the cone surface varies from a maximum at the top or base where the bers first engage it, to a minimum at the bottom or apex where the straightened fibers leave it in the form of a sliver. Thus the fibers are subjected to pulling forces in two directions simultaneously, the horizontal pull progressively decreasing in speed as the fibers are moved downward.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description thereof and to the drawing, of which Figure 1 is a sectional View, on a vertical plane, of apparatus embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure l;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the cone and one of the belts, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a belt and the cone, both having a surface of card clothing.

As shown in Figure l, a cone 10 is mounted in inverted position on a vertical shaft 12 by which it is rotated. The cone is preferably hollow and is supported from the shaft by suitable radial ribs 14. Above the cone is a circular plate 16 which is horizontal and is close to the base of the cone so that the cone and plate enclose a chamber. From this chamber an exhaust duct 18 leads through the plate 16 to a suitable air pump (not shown) Mice by which a suction can be maintained within the cone. Arranged around the cone are a series of `endless belts 20,six of such kbeltsbeing `shown in .Figure` 3. Each belt is mountedonauupper'pulley 22 anda lower pulley 24, all of thesepulleys vbeing arranged .to rotate o n horizontal axes. 'Thepulleys are located in such away that the -belts .each have a `stretch l26 extending yalong .the sur face of the cone from the base thereto to the'apex, the stretch 2 6 4of each belt being close. to but out of contact with the surface of the cone. The pulleys are drivenso that the stretches 26 move downward from `the vbase of the cone toward the v.apex as .the ,cone revolvesabout its vertical axis. To drive the cone-and belts, power is provided from a suitable motor (notshown) by -a p ower belt 30 ywliichturns 4a pulleyv .i2-mountedyon a'shaftl. This shaft is connected byy bevel gears 36 and 38 to the vertical shaft 12 on which the cone is mounted. The shaft 12 also carries a bevel ,gear 40 whiclrnreshes with a series of bevel gears 42 mounted on `shafts 44 whichlare connectedby suitable gearingftl torotatable feed rolls 50 V'and 52' which have blades; adapted torffeed loose Vfibers from a ,hopper ,54 A above the rolls-.down through spitable chutes 56 onto the belts 20. The upper pulleys 22 are mounted on horizontal shafts 53 which are connected to the corresponding shafts of adjacent pulleys by any convenient means such as the bevel gears 6) shown in Figure 3. One of these shafts 58 is provided with a pulley 62 on which is a power belt 64 leading to a suitable source of power (not shown). The pulley 62 rotates its shaft 58 and all the other shafts S8 through connecting gears 60 so that the belts 20 travel at the same speed with the stretches 26 moving downward from the base of the cone toward the apex.

The cone is preferably pervious so that air can be drawn through the conical surface by means of suction maintained within the cone. Thus the cone may be made of screen or perforated sheet material. lf desired, the exterior surface of the cone may be abrasive or covered with closely spaced teeth 70 as indicated in Figure 7, these teeth being conveniently supplied by covering the cone with card clothing. The belts 20 are also provided with teeth on their outer surface, this surface being preferably covered with card clothing for that purpose.

Between the successive belts 20 a series of grid bars 72 are supported by suitable brackets 74 which are attached to the main frame. These bars 72 extend down from the base of the cone toward the apex and are spaced from each other and are also located close to the surface of the cone. When the apparatus is in operation the fibers are fed down from the hopper 54 onto the belts 20 by which they are carried down toward the apex of the cone. While thus being carried the fibers are subjected to the rotative movement of the cone against which they are drawn by the suction. The horizontal movement of the conical surface is at its maximum speed at the base of the cone where the diameter is greatest, so that the action of the cone on the fibers decreases as they are moved downward by the belts 20. The action of the belts and the cone on the fibers simultaneously in two diiferent directions straightens them out and eventually arranges them in a sliver 80 which forms progressively at the apex of the cone and is fed through a coiler 82 into a can. i

Foreign matter which may be present in the loose fibers in the hopper 54 tends to be thrown outward by the centrifugal action of the cone, especially when the fibres first reach the cone. Such foreign matter is readily discharged through the spaces between the grid bars 72.

The sliver 80 passes through a pair of calender rolls 84 and S6 which are driven through suitable power connections by a motor 88.

The mechanism including the cone, pulleys and driving connections are supported on a suitable main frame 9i) which also carries the hopper 54. A conical protective cover 92 is mounted over the cone and the plate 16, this cover 92 forming the bottom of the hopper 54.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for straightening loose fibers, comprising a cone, means for supporting said cone for rotation about its axis, and endless belt, means supporting said belt with a stretch thereof extending adjacent to the surface of the cone from the base to near the apex thereof, and means for driving said cone and belt.

2. Apparatus for straightening loose bers, comprising a hollow cone with a pervious surface, means for rotatably supporting said cone in an inverted position, means for maintaining suction within said cone, a plurality of endless belts adjacent the cone, means supporting said belts so that each belt has a stretch extending from the base of the cone to near the apex thereof, means for rotating said cone, and means for driving said belts so that said stretches move in a direction toward the apex of the cone.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1, said belt having teeth projecting from the outer face thereof.

4. Apparatus as in claim 1, said cone and belt having teeth projecting from the outer faces thereof.

5. Apparatus as in claim 2, said belts having teeth projecting from the outer face thereof.

6. Apparatus as in claim 5, said cone having teeth projecting from the outer surface thereof.

7. Apparatus for straightening loose bers, comprising a frame, a horizontal plate mounted on said frame, a hollow inverted cone of foraminous material rotatably mounted under said plate, the base of the cone being closely adjacent to said plate, and exhaust duct through said plate, a series of upper pulleys mounted on horizontal axes on said frame around the cone and near the base thereof, an equal number of lower pulleys mounted around the apex of the cone to rotate on horizontal axes, a flexible belt mounted on each pair of corresponding upper and lower pulleys, each said belt having a stretch extending along the surface of the cone and closely adjacent thereto, means for driving the belts, a hopper above the belts, and means for feeding the contents of the hopper down onto the belts.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 576,298 Blaisdell Feb. 2, 1897 658,183 Leach et al Sept. 18, 1900 1,059,726 Good et al. Apr. 22, 1913 1,769,669 Wuest July l, 1930 1,980,841 Wuest Nov. 13, 1934 2,181,535 Schlipp et al. Nov. 28, 1939 2,325,159 Coghll July 27, 1943 2,469,161 Fitch May 3, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,072 Great Britain of 1871 

